Jan. 18, 2008--Jin Wu, 73, H. Fletcher Brown Professor Emeritus of Marine Studies and Civil Engineering, who retired from the University of Delaware in 1998, died Jan. 14, in Tainan, Taiwan.

Dr. Wu, who became the third College of Marine and Earth Studies recipient of a UD named professorship in 1980, established and directed the college's Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory in Lewes, Del.

In 1994, Dr. Wu took a leave of absence from UD to serve a three-year term as president of his undergraduate alma mater, National Cheng Kung University in Tainan. He also served as Taiwan's Minister of Education and was distinguished professor of hydraulic and ocean engineering at National Cheng Kung University.

A native of mainland China, Dr. Wu obtained his bachelor's degree from National Cheng Kung University in 1956. He received his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Iowa, where he also was a research associate at the Institute of Hydraulic Research.

Before coming to UD in 1974, Dr. Wu was the principal research scientist and head of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Division at Hydronautics Inc.

Soon after his arrival at UD, Dr. Wu and his students used the 42-meter-long Wind-Wave Current Research facility at UD to study phenomena involving physical interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, including bubbles, ripples, breaking waves and marine aerosols. Dr. Wu also conducted research on air-sea exchanges of momentum, heat and mass and on oceanic microwave remote sensing.

In 1992, Dr. Wu was one of two recipients of the Ocean Science Educators Award presented by the Office of Naval Research to recognize and support distinguished academic marine scientists who have demonstrated success in educating doctoral and postdoctoral students.

Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1995, Dr. Wu authored more than 200 books, journal articles and technical reports.
Dr. Wu was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Geophysical Union, the Oceanography Society and Sigma Xi.

Named a Distinguished Visiting Senior Scholar in the John W. Kludge Center at the Library of Congress in August 2006, Dr. Wu's research topic was “Zheng He, the Chinese Mariner.” Zheng He was a Chinese explorer who and major figure in the history of navigation who undertook a series of expeditions between 1405 and 1433, commanding 200 ships and 28,000 men.

Dr. Wu returned to National Cheng Jung University in 1998 and retired in 2004.

Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Tzu-Chen C. Wu of Rockville (Md); three sons, Victor Hua-Teh Wu and Abraham Hua-Chung Wu, both of Los Angeles, and Marvin Hua-Wei Wu of Chapel Hill, N.C.; two brothers, Hai Wu of Shanghai and Washington, D.C., and Uyu Wu of Taipei, Taiwan; and four grandchildren.